Medicine Hat ranked most affordable housing market in Alberta

MEDICINE HAT, AB — An annual International Housing Affordability Survey conducted by the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies has ranked Medicine Hat as the most affordable city for housing in Alberta. The study uses the median price of a house and the median household income to rank cities around the world.

In Medicine Hat the average median price of a home is $246,900 with a median household income of $70,600 resulting in a median multiple of 3.5. That means it takes 3.5 years worth of income to afford a house.

According to the survey, cities with a median multiple under 3.0 are considered affordable, anything between 3.1 – 4.0 is moderately unaffordable while scores 4.1 and above are considered to be seriously unaffordable or severely unaffordable markets.

The Gas City sits 12th overall in Canada, and 138 world wide. Moncton New Brunswick was ranked the most affordable city in Canada with a median multiple of 2.1. The only prairie city to beat Medicine Hat was Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Moose Jaw ranked 9th in Canada, sitting at 3.0.

Vancouver was ranked the least affordable city in Canada, and third least affordable overall with a median multiple of 11.8.